Pacific to honor Stockton Symphony Founder

(January 31, 2007) -

University of the Pacific and the Stockton Symphony will honor the legacy of Stockton Symphony founder Manlio Silva and his family Saturday, Feb. 3 in celebration of the symphony’s 80th anniversary. Silva was a pharmacist by trade and simultaneously organized, conducted and managed the orchestra until he passed away in 1958.

Pacific’s Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and the Stockton Symphony will hold a pre-concert reception where Silva’s family will be recognized. The reception will take place at 4 p.m. at the Health Sciences Building on the University’s Stockton campus. Both the reception and concert are open to the public. The Stockton Symphony concert will begin at 6 p.m. in the Atherton Auditorium at San Joaquin Delta College.

Silva dreamed of leading his own orchestra while growing up on the Italian Riviera. After graduating from the Conservatory of Chiavari, he immigrated to the United States in 1909. By 1924, he was actively gathering area musicians to establish the State Theater Orchestra – an ensemble of 20. 

The first complete Stockton Symphony season opened in October 1926 at the Old California Theater on Main Street.  Tickets sold for 50 cents for adults and 10 cents for children.  When ticket sales failed to meet expenses, Silva dug into his own pocket to cover expenses. 

“The symphony was created by Silva and Silva lived almost solely for the symphony,” The Stockton Record wrote.  

Manlio and his brother Tullio ran the Genova Pharmacy. Tullio, a fine musician himself, also played in the orchestra. Tullio’s daughter, Francesca Vera, recalled what it was like growing up in a house full of passionate musicians.
 
“Our whole family lived in a house on Cleveland Street,” she said. “All the musicians would come over after a concert and eat pasta, and then roll up the rug and play music and dance all night.” 

The symphony is the third oldest orchestra in California, behind Los Angeles and San Francisco. Starting in 1926, it has an annual budget of more than $1.2 million and this season about 44,000 people will either attend one of the symphony’s concerts or its education and community programs.

For more information, contact Sherry McGee-Casey, coordinator of Donor and Alumni Relations at Pacific’s School of Pharmacy, at 209.946.3116 or  Mary Nakamura, administrative assistant of External Relations at the School of Pharmacy, at 209.946.2561, or Jennifer Held, marketing director for the Stockton Symphony Association, at 209.951.0196 or  marketing@stocktonsymphony.org.